(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a booklet for recording information, such as bank transactions, appointments, schedules, tasks or the like, that also is designed to hold and protect identification and/or smart cards. Smart cards are any cards, like a credit or debit card, with embedded information storage capability, such as with a magnetic strip or microchip or the like. The booklet has a pocket formed by heat sealing a sheet to an inner surface of a cover panel that is made of treated paper substrate. The sheet and treatment materials must be compatible for heat sealing, for example, a vinyl sheet sealed to a vinyl treated paper substrate.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Various booklets or folders having card pockets and a place to record information or transactions are currently in use.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,405 (Daneshvar) discloses a booklet for collecting and presenting personal medical information. Although the booklets include pockets formed in the covers of the booklets, the disclosure provides that the pockets may be used to hold additional papers containing medical information. Thus, there is no indicated use of the pockets for securely holding and protecting identification and credit cards.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,729 (Jackson) discloses a patient medical information and education sheathe. Although a pocket is provided which serves to hold a plurality of cards or the like, the user must open a plurality of panels of the sheathe to retrieve a card from the pocket.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,767,756 (Niles) discloses a foldable unit plastic card holder designed to hold a number of cards. However, the card holder does not include any pages on which to record transactions or maintain record-keeping.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,360,027 (Price) discloses a ticket and money holder provided with openings with arcuate lower edges through which tickets and the like may be inserted into and removed from the holder. The holder includes an outer sheet that is stitched to a filler.
One booklet, developed by the inventors of the present invention, uses a resin emulsion adhesive applied to the entire inner surface of standard paper cover in forming the pocket. (See, U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,401 to Exline et al. and co-pending continuation-in-part U.S. application Ser. No. 08/783,813, filed Jan. 16, 1997, the disclosures of each are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.) A pocket is formed by first completely adhering a first leaf (smaller in size than the cover) to the cover to leave an L-shaped adhesive strip exposed along two marginal edges of the inner surface of the cover. As a result, a second leaf was adhered to the L-shaped adhesive strip that remained exposed on the inner surface of the cover, thereby forming a pocket with a third edge being attached at the fold and a fourth edge remaining open for receiving a card.
The booklets are placed in dies in air-powered vises, and thereafter squeezed together in order to set the adhesive. As a result, a pocket was created, formed by sealing the first leaf and part of the second leaf to the inner surface of the cover using the L-shaped adhesive strip.
The adhesive for the strip is selected from the group consisting of latexes of polyvinyl ethylene, polyvinyl acetate, acrylics and any copolymer thereof, natural rubber latex, natural rubber solvent-based, protein glue, carbohydrate polymer, aerobic adhesives, cyanoacrylates, silicones, and epoxy resins. The preferred adhesive in the '401 patent is polyvinyl acetate copolymer latex with a glass transition temperature (Tg) approximately near or below room temperature. The use of a resin emulsion adhesive, preferably a polyvinyl acetate copolymer emulsion, makes it possible to create a properly formed pocket for holding and protecting the card.
While the overall design of the '401 patent and its improvements have been successful commercially, there still remains a need for an improved booklet which can be produced more efficiently to meet the ever-increasing demands for booklets for the designated purpose. Moreover, there remains a demand for a bonding technique whereby a pocket may be formed inside the cover while eliminating the need for adhesives and adhesive strips, thereby eliminating the additional costs and processing steps associated therewith.